Moderate Dems Reject Reconciliation To Pass Health Care

Two moderate Democratic Senators facing re-election battles this year said Tuesday they would oppose using a legislative tool that requires only 51 Senate votes to get health care legislation to President Barack Obama’s desk.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, called the move, known as reconciliation, “ill-advised,” while Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, issued a news release rejecting the procedure.

“I will not accept any last-minute efforts to force changes to health insurance reform issues through budget reconciliation, and neither will Arkansans,” Lincoln said in the statement.

Both the House and Senate have passed separate health care bills, entirely on support from Democrats.

Democratic leaders were working on merging the two bills, but the nation’s political landscape changed last week when Massachusetts elected Republican Scott Brown to fill the Senate seat held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy for almost 47 years until he died in August.

Brown’s victory cost Democrats their 60-seat super-majority in the 100-member Senate necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster. The shift means Republicans can block Democratic initiatives such as health care reform.

Now Democratic leaders are working on a plan for the House to pass the Senate bill, along with a separate package of changes in the Senate plan that reflect compromise between the two chambers.

The package of changes would have to pass both the House and the Senate.

Without the 60-seat super-majority, Senate Democrats now are considering using the reconciliation tool that would require only 51 votes to pass the measure.

However, some Democrats in tough re-election fights worry voters will see that as legislative gimmickry, reinforcing complaints that Democratic control of Washington has been business as usual.

Bayh told CNN that using reconciliation “would destroy the opportunity, if there is one, for any bipartisan cooperation on anything else for the rest of the year.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, dismissed opposition to using reconciliation as a way to get health care legislation to the president.

“I think reconciliation has been used effectively by both parties,” Durbin said. “I wouldn’t walk away from it. It’s an option we should keep on the table.”

Senate Democrats still have 59 votes in their caucus, meaning they could lose eight Democratic votes and still have the 51 needed to pass a health care package through reconciliation.

Still, Democratic sources warn that using reconciliation is complicated and fraught with legislative hurdles, raising questions about whether it could happen even if enough congressional Democrats supported the move.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, emerged from a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, late Tuesday and said they are making progress on “some kind of package,” but reiterated that at this time “there are not the votes in the House, not anywhere near, to pass the Senate bill.”

Earlier, Reid told reporters there is now “no rush” on health care.

Obama, who made health care his top domestic priority last year, will address the issue in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

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Finding Relief From Acid Reflux Disease

Millions of people suffer from acid reflux disease which can range from a hoarse throat in the morning to symptoms that might have you rushing to the doctor thinking you are having a heart attack!


This very common chronic condition, sometimes referred to as heartburn by every day folks and often called gastroespohageal reflux disease or GERD by your doctor is not only very uncomfortable, but it can also lead to very serious problems due to the stomach acids burning your esophagus if left unchecked over long periods of time. This condition called Erosive Esophagitis can be serious and some doctors think it may even be linked to esophageal cancer


If you have ever felt that burning in your throat or tasted the bitter sour taste in the back of your mouth then you won’t be surprised to learn that acid reflux is caused by stomach acids, and sometimes food, backing up into your esophagus. There is a muscle in between the stomach and esophagus and this muscle acts like a valve that lets food enter from the esophagus into the stomach but is supposed to only open one way so that food and stomach acids cannot back up. However, in many people this muscle does not function properly and the result is acid reflux.


There are many ways to treat acid reflux but you will want to visit a health professional to get a good diagnosis before you choose the right path for you to take. Usually treating acid reflux is an ongoing process and your doctor might suggest medicines such as pump inhibiters that reduce the amount of acid produced or he may leave it to simple dietary and lifestyle changes such as avoiding some foods and sleeping on an incline


No matter what your doctor suggests, it’s in your best interest to find out what foods trigger bouts of heartburn for you. Try keeping a food diary and noting what you eat, when you eat it and how you feel shortly after. This will tell you what foods you might think about avoiding. Typically fatty and fried foods cause acid reflux. Other foods you might want to avoid include chocolate, tomotoe based foods, peppermint, citrus and spicy foods.


Other things you can do to reduce the effects of acid reflux disease include wearing loose clothing (especially around your stomach area) and not eating for several hours before bedtime.

Lee Dobbins writes for Acid Reflux Illness where you can find more information on symptoms and cures of acid reflux disease.

How Canceling Kidscare Could Hurt Az Public Health

Public health advocates are warning about the consequences of a plan to eliminate funding for Arizona’s KidsCare, the state health program covering 47,000 children of the working poor. Gov. Jan Brewer proposed the move to deal with Arizona’s $5-billion budget deficit. Critics argue uninsured low-income families would then have only two options: take their children to overwhelmed community clinics or to hospital emergency rooms.

Among the other programs facing cuts is Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) Administration, Arizona’s Medicaid agency. Tara Plese, director of government and media relations for the Arizona Association of Community Health Care Centers, says that means several clinics around the state may have to close for lack of revenue.

“It wouldn’t be in all communities, and it may just be that some of the services that some of these clinics now provide like dentistry or pharmacy, would be the first cut.”

If parents have no other health care option for their children except emergency rooms, Plese says everyone who does have insurance will pick up the tab as costs are passed on through higher prices.

Like community health centers, emergency rooms are required by federal law to treat everyone regardless of ability to pay. But, she says the costs must still be covered somehow.

“With the hospitals, when you get all the uncompensated care coming through your ER, then you are going to have to find some way to make up for that cost, and it’s going to go back on the commercial insurers.”

The public’s health will also suffer if thousands of kids, especially six-to-nine year-olds, are left without coverage, she adds.

“That’s an age where they’re getting another set of immunizations, they’re more prone to being sick because they’re in school, they’re getting sick, other children are getting sick, and it’s a time when they probably visit doctors with more frequency.”

Arizona’s KidsCare program began in 1998, at a time when many employers were either dropping employee health coverage or sharply boosting premiums. State dollars for Kidscare are matched three-to-one by the federal government.

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Women’s Health Magazine: a Good Source of Information

I was about 15 years old when I first learned about masturbation. I was always curious about my bodily functions and sex, but I was also extremely shy to ask my mom or grandmother about it. My friends and I discussed these topics a lot (I think they were the only topics at that time) but none of us were really experts. Nonetheless, we all pooled out knowledge together, but we got nowhere.

I Found Mom’s Women’s Health Magazine Very Interesting

There were so many questions floating in my mind, when I found by chance my mom’s women’s health magazine. Leafing through it I got a glimpse of a lot of the right type of information and so I sat down to read it. I still remember the relief I felt when I read that masturbation is normal and that all girls and boys did so around my age. I was feeling extremely depressed regarding this fact. My friends were also worried about this, to tell you the truth.

I shared the women’s health magazine with my friends, and from then on we read it every week. The routine would be to wait for a week, time within which mom reads the magazine back to back. By the second week, no one wants to know where the magazine is. This is the time when we used to take the magazine and enjoy the information given therein.

There is a wealth of information in most of women’s health magazines and it is wonderful to have it at your fingertips. By the way of fingertips, in this computer-age, you will be happy to know that there are a great number of electronic women’s health magazines on the internet itself.

Information is power. It is always good to know the answer when the question pops up in your mind. This is why it is good that parents maintain a very open and friendly way of conversing and communicating. This is important because no women’s health magazine can ever provide the caring guidance a parent can offer.

A good tip regarding find the right women’s health magazine: chose those health magazines which give in depth information about women concerns and diseases. Remember, ailment term is not always attached to those who have a sick body. There are a million of other deviations, including the fact that as the women approach their menopause, women almost loose control over their body. The symptoms of menopause can be terrifying if you are not prepared for it. It is in situations like this that books and magazines are indeed a great help!

Roland Parris Jefferson III is an online researcher based out of Los Angeles, California. For free tips, resources and expert advice on Women’s Health, please visit our Womens Health Magazine Resource.